what do ceos do? - columbia universityap3116/papers/ceos11.pdf · what do ceos do?* we develop a...
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DISCUSSION PAPER SERIES
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No. 8235
WHAT DO CEOS DO?
Oriana Bandiera, Luigi Guiso, Andrea Prat and Raffaella Sadun
FINANCIAL ECONOMICS and LABOUR ECONOMICS
ISSN 0265-8003
WHAT DO CEOS DO?
Oriana Bandiera, London School of Economics and CEPR Luigi Guiso, European University Institute and CEPR Andrea Prat, London School of Economics and CEPR
Raffaella Sadun, Harvard University
Discussion Paper No. 8235 February 2011
Centre for Economic Policy Research 77 Bastwick Street, London EC1V 3PZ, UK
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Copyright: Oriana Bandiera, Luigi Guiso, Andrea Prat and Raffaella Sadun
CEPR Discussion Paper No. 8235
February 2011
ABSTRACT
What Do CEOs Do?*
We develop a methodology to collect and analyze data on CEOs' time use. The idea - sketched out in a simple theoretical set-up - is that CEO time is a scarce resource and its allocation can help us identify the firm's priorities as well as the presence of governance issues. We follow 94 CEOs of top-600 Italian firms over a pre-specified week and record the time devoted each day to different work activities. We focus on the distinction between time spent with insiders (employees of the firm) and outsiders (people not employed by the firm). Individual CEOs differ systematically in how much time they spend at work and in how much time they devote to insiders vs. outsiders. We analyze the correlation between time use, managerial effort, quality of governance and firm performance, and interpret the empirical findings within two versions of our model, one with effective and one with imperfect corporate governance. The patterns we observe are consistent with the hypothesis that time spent with outsiders is on average less beneficial to the firm and more beneficial to the CEO and that the CEO spends more time with outsiders when governance is poor.
JEL Classification: D2, G3 and G34 Keywords: CEOs, corporate governance and time use
Oriana Bandiera Department of Economics London School of Economics Houghton Street London WC2A 2AE Email: [email protected] For further Discussion Papers by this author see: www.cepr.org/pubs/new-dps/dplist.asp?authorid=147704
Luigi Guiso Economics Department European University Institute Villa San Paolo Via della Piazzuola 43 I-50133 Firenze ITALY Email: [email protected] For further Discussion Papers by this author see: www.cepr.org/pubs/new-dps/dplist.asp?authorid=104028
Andrea Prat STICERD London School of Economics Houghton Street London WC2 2AE Email: [email protected] For further Discussion Papers by this author see: www.cepr.org/pubs/new-dps/dplist.asp?authorid=138721
Raffaella Sadun Harvard University 100 Edwin H Land Boulevard Cambridge, MA 02138 USA Email: For further Discussion Papers by this author see: www.cepr.org/pubs/new-dps/dplist.asp?authorid=164835
* We thank seminar participants at Catholic University of Milan, Columbia University, EEA Meetings, Harvard Business School, Imperial College, IMT Lucca, LSE, MIT, New York University, NIESR, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Stockholm (IIES), and the University of Sussex for useful comments. We are grateful to Tito Boeri, Daniel Ferreira, Luis Garicano, Steve Pischke, Imran Rasul, and Fabiano Schivardi for useful suggestions. This research was made possible by generous funding from Fondazione Rodolfo Debenedetti.
Submitted 29 January 2011
1 Introduction
Time management has been at the core of the research on management for almost �fty years.
Peter Drucker (1966) makes it the centerpiece of his celebrated book on e¤ective management:
�E¤ective executives know that time is the limiting factor. The output of any process is set
by the scarcest resource. In the process we call �accomplishment�, this is time.�
More recently, the importance of time constraints for people at the top of organiza-
tional hierarchies has been recognized by a number of economic models, like Radner and Van
Zandt�s work on hierarchies (surveyed in Van Zandt, 1998), Bolton and Dewatripont (1994),
and Garicano (2000). Intellectual tasks �information processing in Radner-Van Zandt, com-
munication in Bolton-Dewatripont, problem solving in Garicano �require managerial time,
which is particularly scarce at the top of the organization. As a consequence, a key question
in organization economics is whether and how managers allocate their time to maximize �rm
performance. The theoretical and practical interest, however, are not matched by adequate
empirical evidence, as �rm datasets typically contain no information on managerial time use,
while existing studies of managerial time use are mostly based on very few observations and
are not matched to �rm level outcomes.1
This paper makes a step towards �lling this gap by developing a methodology to system-
atically collect information on how CEOs allocate their time between di¤erent work activities.
We develop a time-use diary for CEOs and we use it to record the time allocation of a sample
of 94 CEOs belonging to leading Italian companies in various industries over a pre-selected
work week. A minimalistic model of managerial use of time guides our interpretation of ob-
served di¤erences in time allocation patterns, and how these are related to the �rms�priorities
and to di¤erences between the �rms�and the CEOs�interests.
To collect the time use data, we ask the CEO�s personal assistant (PA) to keep a diary of
the activities performed by the CEO during a pre-speci�ed week (from Monday to Friday).
The PA has full information on the CEO�s schedule and he/she has a good understanding of
the functions of the people that his/her boss interacts with.2 The PA reports overall working
time and records in a diary all the activities of the CEO that last longer that 15 minutes
detailing their characteristics, in particular information on other participants.
To operationalize the concept of time allocation, we group activities according to whether
1For example, Mintzberg (1973) seminal work of managerial time use is based on a sample of 5 CEOs. To
the best of our knowledge, the largest observational dataset on top executives is Kotter (1999), which includes
15 general managers, who were selected for being �successful�.2Roxanne Sadowski, Jack Welch�s long-term PA, makes this abundantly clear: �For more than fourteen
years, I�ve been human answering machine, auto dialer, word processor, �ltering system, and fact checker;
been a sounding board, schlepper, buddy, and bearer of good and bad tidings; served as a scold, diplomat,
repairperson, cheerleader and naysayer; and performed dozens of other roles under the title of �assistant�.�
2
they involve employees of the �rm (insiders) or only people external to the �rm (outsiders).
Insiders are listed by functional area, for instance �nance, marketing, or human resources.
Outsiders are grouped in categories CEOs normally interact with, for instance suppliers,
investors, or consultants. The insider/outsider classi�cation is ideal for our purposes for two
reasons. First, it captures the essence of the CEO�s job: �The CEO is the link between the
Inside that is the organization, and the Outside of society, economy, technology, markets, and
customers �(Drucker, cited in La�ey 2009). Second, it is a dimension over which the CEO�s
and the �rm�s interests might be misaligned. As a matter of fact, the optimal inside/outside
balance is the subject of controversy in the management, �nance and economics literature. At
one end of the spectrum, a widely held view is that since the CEO is the "public face" of the
company, spending time outside the �rm is an important (if perhaps not the most important)
role of the CEO. 3 At the other end, however, an increasingly popular view points out that
time spent with outsiders might mostly bene�t the CEO without contributing to creating
value for the �rm. Khurana (2002), for instance, argues that CEOs have strong incentives
to seek visibility, by cultivating personal connections with in�uential business leaders. In
line with this, Malmendier and Tate (2009) show that when their power vis-a-vis the �rm
increases, CEOs spend more time outside the �rm in activities, such as writing books and
playing golf, and that this shift in activities does not contribute to �rm�s performance.4
Our data reveal that, as expected, CEOs spend the majority of their time with other
people (85%). Of these most are employees of the same �rm, but many are not. On average,
CEOs spend 42% of their time with insiders only, 25% with both insiders and outsiders and
16% with outsiders alone. More interestingly, these averages hide a great deal of heterogeneity,
both in terms of number of hours worked and time allocation. A majority of CEOs spend
very little time (less than 5 hours per week) alone with outsiders, but over 10% of them
spend over 10 hours a week. Our empirical analysis is aimed at making sense of the wide
heterogeneity on this dimension of time allocation choices.
Since the implication of di¤erent time allocation choices - and in particular the di¤er-
ential impact of time spent with insiders vs. outsiders - is a priori ambiguous, we develop
a minimalistic model of managerial time allocation that allows us to distinguish productive
activities from activities that mostly confer private bene�ts to the CEO. We use this frame-
3Procter & Gamble�s CEO A. G. La�ey (2009) views the link with the outside as the raison d�être of the
top executive: �The CEO alone experiences the meaningful outside at an enterprise level and is responsible
for understanding it, interpreting it, advocating for it, and presenting it so that the company can respond in
a way that enables sustainable sales, pro�t, and total shareholder return (TSR) growth.�4Khurana (2002)�s view is that the market for CEOs is deeply �awed. The search for external, charismatic
�corporate saviors�leads boards �and the executive search companies they employ �to give their preference
to highly visible personalities that can more easily be "sold" to the �rm shareholders. In turn, this creates an
incentive for CEOs to seek visibility, by cultivating personal connections with in�uential business leaders.
3
work to shed light on whether time with insiders and outsiders can be interpreted along these
lines. In our model, the CEO chooses how much time to devote to a number of possible
work-related activities, or to leisure. Each of the work activities yield non-negative bene�ts
to the �rm and to the CEO. For instance, networking with clients might increase the �rm�s
sale but also increase the chance that the CEO is o¤ered a better job in the future. Suppose
activities can be roughly divided into the ones that bene�t mostly the �rm and those that
bene�t mostly the CEO. In this set-up, the interpretation of di¤erences in time allocation
between these two sets of activities depends on the extent to which the CEO�s and the �rm�s
interests are aligned. When these are perfectly aligned, time allocation is entirely determined
by the �rm�s objectives. In this case, the observed variation in time allocation is entirely de-
termined by optimal responses to di¤erent conditions faced by di¤erent �rms. However, when
the CEO�s and the �rm�s interests are not perfectly aligned, time allocation is determined by
both the �rm�s objectives and the CEO�s objectives. In this case, the observed variation in
time allocation partially re�ects di¤erences in the quality of governance that determines the
alignment of the CEO�s interests with the �rm�s.
If the observed variation re�ects di¤erences in governance, the model makes precise that
the following three sets of correlations must hold:
1. CEOs who work longer hours, devote more time to activities that mostly bene�t the
�rm and less time to activities that mostly yield private bene�ts.
2. CEOs who work for �rms with stronger governance devote more time to activities that
mostly bene�t the �rm and less time to activities that mostly yield private bene�ts.
3. Time devoted to activities that mostly bene�t the �rm is more strongly correlated with
productivity than time devoted to activities that mostly yield private bene�ts.
Guided by the theoretical framework, we estimate the correlation between the CEOs�time
use, their total time at work, �rm level measures of governance and productivity, conditional
on the size of the �rm, whether it is listed and the industry it is in. The analysis yields three
key �ndings, corresponding to results 1-3 above.
First, the insider/outsider allocation is associated with systematic di¤erences in CEO
worktime. In particular, CEOs who work longer hours spend more time with insiders and
less time, in absolute terms, with outsiders, especially in on one-on-one meetings.
Second, the insider/outsider allocation is systematically correlated with di¤erences in
�rm governance. More precisely, we correlate CEOs time allocation with a range of external
proxies for �rm level governance. We begin by comparing the time allocation of CEOs working
for domestic and multinational �rms. We expect the latter to have stronger governance as
4
multinational �rms face global competition and therefore need to provide steeper incentives
to maintain their productivity advantage (Bloom and Van Reenen 2010 and Bandiera et. al
2010). We then look at variables that proxy for the CEO�s power vis-a-vis the �rm owners.
First, we compare external CEOs who work for family �rms to those hired by �rms owned
by disperse shareholders. Intuitively, when ownership is concentrated, as it is in family �rms,
owners might face less di¢ culties in monitoring the CEOs�time use. Second, we test whether
time allocation is correlated with board size. Large boards have long been suspected of being
dysfunctional and to lead to too little criticism of management performance, thus granting
CEOs more freedom (e.g. Lipton and Lorsch, 1992). Consistent with this view, there is
some evidence that larger boards reduce the value of the �rm (e.g. Yermack, 1996). Third,
following a recent literature pointing at the fact that the presence of women on the board
might improve the quality of governance (Adams and Ferreira 2009), we use an indicator
for whether there is at least a woman in the board with an executive role. Finally, as a
more direct (and arguably exogenous) measure of governance quality and restraints on the
managers we use the country-level indicator of private bene�ts of control computed by Dyck
and Zingales (2004) on the basis of block control transactions in 39 countries. We attach
this measure of quality of governance to multinational �rms in our sample on the basis of
their country of origin and rely on within variation among multinational �rms operating in
Italy. The correlations between time use and the �ve independent governance proxies paint
a consistent picture: CEOs who work for �rms with better governance devote more time to
insiders and less time to meeting outsiders alone.
In the �nal part of our empirical analysis, we show that the insider/outsider allocation
is correlated with �rm performance. Time spent with insiders is positively correlated with
several measures of �rm performance, while time spent with outsiders only is not. For
example, a one percent increase in hours dedicated to insiders is correlated with a productivity
increase of 1.22%, whereas a one percent increase in hours dedicated to outsiders is correlated
with a productivity increase of 0.22%, and both e¤ects are signi�cantly di¤erent from zero
at conventional levels.
Taken together, our �ndings are consistent with the idea that di¤erences in time allocation
re�ect di¤erences in governance and that, compared to time spent with outsiders alone, time
spent with insiders is more bene�cial to the �rm. Since the data at hand, however, is not
suited to identify the causal e¤ect of governance on time allocation, we can make precise the
set of assumptions needed to reconcile the �ndings with the view that di¤erences in time
allocation re�ect optimal responses to di¤erent shocks faced by di¤erent �rms. The �nal
section of the paper discusses these in detail.
The paper is structured as follows. After a brief literature review in Section 2, Section
5
3 explains our empirical methodology and describes the data. Section 4 presents a simple
time allocation model. Section 5 reports empirical �ndings based on our theoretical set-up.
Section 6 concludes.
2 Related Literature
The collection and analysis of time use data has experienced a recent surge in the economics
literature, mostly to shed light on the work/leisure choice and to measure welfare (see, e.g.
Aguiar and Hurst 2007, Krueger et al 2009). Closer to our exercise are Hamermesh (1990)
and Luthans (1988), who analyse how workers and middle managers, respectively, spend time
at work. Hamermesh (1990) analyzes time diaries of a sample of 343 US workers to shed light
whether time devoted to leisure on-the-job (e.g. on breaks) is productive for the �rm, or an
indicator of shirking. Luthans (1988) records in detail the activities of 44 managers with
the aim to identify the determinants of a manager�s success within his or her organization.
Other celebrated management authors, such as Kotter or Mintzberg, also base their works on
in-depth observation of managerial behavior, however they tend to base their research on in
depth observations of a limited number of managers. Although this literature has provided a
very rich set of information on the nature of managerial activities, it has not directly tested
the implications of di¤erent time use allocations for �rm performance. To the best of our
knowledge, this is the �rst paper that measures how CEOs spend their time using a large
sample of individuals.
Our analysis is also related to the vast literature that focuses on agency problems for CEOs
(see the survey by Stein (2003)). Our paper studies one particular form of moral hazard,
that relates to the diversion of CEOs time allocation, and hence it is quite far from other
types of misbehavior studied in the literature. The most closely related study is Malmendier
and Tate (2009), who look at what happens when CEOs receive prestigious business awards,
both in terms of �rm performance and CEO behavior. One of their �ndings is that award
recipients appear to devote more time to writing books, playing golf, and sitting on boards
of other companies, a �nding that is not inconsistent with ours in so far time to write books
crowds CEO�s out working time rather than his leisure.
Our paper is complementary to Bertrand and Schoar�s (2003) analysis of management
style in a panel of matched CEO-�rm observations. While their objective is to identify
the �xed e¤ect of individual managers, our goal is to use a direct behavior variable - time
allocation - to make inferences on the implicit incentive structure that managers face.
6
3 The CEOs�Diaries: Descriptive Evidence on Time Use
3.1 Sources and Sample Description
Our main data source is a time use survey, which we designed to identify the activities CEOs
engage in on a day-to-day basis. The survey e¤ectively shadows the CEO through his PA
for every day over a one week period. The PA is asked to record real-time information on
all the CEO�s activities that last 15 minutes or longer in a time use diary. Table A1 shows
how the diary is structured. For each activity - de�ned as a task to which the CEOs devotes
time in excess of 15 minutes - the diary records information on the type of activity (e.g.
meetings, phone calls etc), its duration, its location, whether it was scheduled in advance
and when, whether it is held regularly and how often. The diary also collects information
on the number of participants, whether these belong to the �rm or not, and if insiders,
their occupational areas (e.g. �nance, marketing); if outsiders, their relation to the �rm
(e.g. investors, suppliers). The PA is also asked to record the total time the CEO spends
in activities that last 15 minutes or less and in transit. Hence, by summing the time spent
over activities in excess of 15 minutes and the time spent in activities that last less than 15
minutes we obtain a measure of the CEO total working time. Each PA is randomly assigned
one of �ve weeks between February 10 and March 14, 2007.
The master sample contains the top 800 Italian �rms from the Dun&Bradstreet data
base (2007) and the top 50 Italian banks from the list of all major Italian �nancial groups
compiled yearly by the Research Division of Mediobanca, a leading Italian investment bank.
Size is measured as yearly revenue for �rms and as the average of (i) employment, (ii) Stock
market capitalization; (iii) Total value of loan portfolio for banks. All 850 institutions were
contacted to ascertain the identity and contact details of the CEO; this procedure yielded 720
complete records. Of these, 50 were randomly selected for a pilot survey and the remaining
670 formed the �nal sample. The response rate was 18%, yielding complete information on
the time use of 119 CEOs.
The implementation of the survey was outsourced to a professional survey �rm, Carlo
Erminero and co., headquartered in Milan. Sample CEOs received an o¢ cial invitation letter
from the Fondazione Rodolfo Debenedetti that sponsored this project, followed by a personal
phone call explaining the purpose of the survey and the relevant con�dentiality clauses. Upon
acceptance, the survey was mailed to the PA identi�ed by the CEO, who was asked to record
the information and send back the completed forms via either fax or mail.
To maintain comparability across individuals, we drop ten CEOs who also cover the role
of "board president". The �nal sample contains 94 CEOs. 5
5We analyzed whether the survey sample was systematically di¤erent from non respondents in terms of
7
We match the time use data with two further sources. The �rst is the Amadeus data
base, which contains balance sheet data, �rm size, ownership and multinational status for
94 �rms in our sample. The second is the Infocamere database, which provides a rich set of
demographic information about all board members with executive and non executive respon-
sibilities.
Our dataset has obvious strengths and appeals; but it is subject also to a number of
limitations which deserve to be mentioned up-front. Apart from its small size, which re�ects
our focus on the largest corporations together with a low survey response rate (18%), the
data are cross-sectional in nature. We do not observe work-related activities that the CEO
may perform in the evenings or on weekends, and we miss the characteristics of those that
take less than 15 minutes.
Table 1 describes our sample �rms and CEOs. Panel 1A shows that manufacturing is the
most common sector (39%) followed by Finance, Insurance and Real Estate (15%), Services
(14%), Transportation, Communication and Utilities (13%), Wholesale and Retail (8%),
Construction (4%) and Mining (3%). The median �rm in our sample has 1,244 employees
and its productivity (measured as value of sales per employee) is USD 600,000 per year. Just
under 40% of the sample �rms are widely held, 22% belong to families, and the remainder is
split between private individuals, private equity, government and cooperatives. Finally, the
sample 30% of the �rms are domestic, 36% Italian multinationals and 34% Italian subsidiaries
of foreign multinationals. For the latter, respondents in our sample are CEOs of the Italian
subsidiary.
3.2 CEOs�Time Use: Insiders vs Outsiders
Table 2 and Figure 1 illustrate how CEOs spend their time. The average CEO in our sample
works 47.7 hours over a 5 day-week. We note that this only comprises the work hours known
to the PA, and as such it does not include working time at home or at the weekend. The
�gure thus provides a lower bound on the working hours of the CEOs. Of these, 36.9 -just
under 80%- are spent in activities that last 15 minutes or longer, for which the diary records
detailed information. The rest of the analysis will focus on these activities that, reassuringly,
comprise the bulk of the CEO�s time.
observable �rm level characteristics, such as size, productivity, pro�ts, location and industry. The analysis
(presented in Table A2 in appendix) shows that the CEOs participating in our study tended to work for larger
�rms, and had a higher probability of being a¢ liated to the Fondazione Debenedetti. In terms of industry
representativeness, we also had a higher response rate for �rms classi�ed in Public Administration, Business
Services and Finance. However, we could not �nd any systematic di¤erence in terms of regional location
and �rm performance, as measured by productivity, pro�ts and three years sales growth rates. The selection
analysis is limited to the sample of 535 �rms that could be matched to the Amadeus dataset
8
Table 2 (top panel) and Figure 1 show that, as expected, CEOs spend most of their time
(85%) with other people. Meetings take up 60% of the working hours, and the remaining
25% is comprised of phone-calls, conference calls and public events. Our sample CEOs
spend on average 15% of their time working alone. We note that this might be subject to
measurement error, as the CEO might be in his o¢ ce but not necessarily working. This is
of little consequence for our analysis, which focusses on the time the CEO spends with other
people.
We illustrate how the CEOs allocate their time across di¤erent categories of people, and
we focus especially on the distinction between people who belong to the �rm (insiders) and
those who do not (outsiders). The diaries reveal three interesting patterns. First, while
insiders are present most of the time, CEOs also spend a considerable amount of time with
outsiders alone (Figure 1B). On average, CEOs spend 42% of their time with insiders only,
25% with both insiders and outsiders and 16% with outsiders alone. Second, time spent with
insiders is evenly spread across di¤erent operational areas (Table 2B). Among the top �ve
categories of insiders -ranked by total time spent, the ratio between the highest (�nance: 8.6
hours) and the lowest (human resources: 5.5 hours) is 1.4. In contrast, consultants dominate
among outsiders. Looking again at the top �ve categories by time spent, the ratio between
the highest (consultants: 4.7 hours) and the lowest (suppliers: 1.3 hours) is 3.9. Third,
most of the variation between insiders is on the intensive margin: at least 70% of our sample
CEOs spends at least 15 minutes per week with each of the top �ve categories of insiders. In
contrast, time spent with di¤erent categories of outsiders exhibit considerable variation on
the extensive margin.
More interestingly, we note that the average values hide a considerable amount of vari-
ation. Figure 2 shows the histograms of total diary-recorded hours, and hours spent with
insiders and outsiders. There is considerable variation in hours worked: the CEO at the
90th percentile works 20 hours longer than the CEO at the 10th percentile (47 vs 27). The
di¤erences in hours spent with various participants are even starker. The CEO at the 90th
percentile devotes 35 weekly hours to activities where there is at least one insider, whereas
the corresponding �gure is 14 hours for the CEO at the 10th percentile. The CEO at the
90th percentile devotes 11 weekly hours meeting alone with outsiders, whereas the CEO at
the 10th percentile spends no time at all with outsiders alone.
To test whether these di¤erences are systematic rather than the outcome of random
variation across CEOs in time input requirement or purely driven by �rm characteristics, we
estimate the time spent with at least one insider at the most disaggregated level of observation
in our data - the activity level - conditional on �rm size, industry dummies and CEO �xed
e¤ects. We observed a total of 2,612 activities in the sample and on average, CEOs engage
9
in 27 activities over the observation week. We reject the null hypothesis of no systematic
di¤erence, namely that the CEO �xed e¤ects are jointly equal to zero, at the 1% level. The
estimated �xed e¤ects, reported in Figure A1 with their 95% con�dence interval, illustrate
that conditional on �rm size and industry, CEOs exhibit di¤erent patterns of time use.
4 A Model of CEO Time Allocation
The goal of this section is to develop a minimalistic model of managerial time allocation
to illustrate how the interpretation of di¤erences in time allocation among di¤erent CEOs
depends on the extent to which the CEO�s and the �rm�s interests are aligned. We will show
that when these are perfectly aligned, time allocation is entirely determined by the �rm�s
objectives, whereas when they are not, time allocation re�ects di¤erence in governance. In
this case the model will produce a set of testable correlations that can be tested with our
data. The points we make would still hold in a more general model, but �in the interest of
space and readability �we prefer to illustrate them in the simplest possible linear quadratic
formulation.
The section ends by dealing with the connection between desired time allocation, which
is the activity time distribution predicted by the model, and observed time allocation, which
is the particular realization of the theoretical time distribution that we observe in our CEO
diaries.
4.1 De�nitions
The CEO faces n activities and allocates non-negative time vector (x1; :::; xI) to the activities.
The �rm�s production function is
Y =
nXi=1
�ixi
The vector � describes the value of the top manager�s time in all possible activities and it is
determined by the �rm technology and environment.
The CEO can also produce some personal rent (e.g. networking), with production function
R =
nXi=1
�ixi
The vector � depends on characteristics of the CEO and the institutional and economic
environment he operates in.
10
The total cost of time for the CEO is
C =1
2
nXi=1
x2i :
There is an increasing marginal cost in devoting time to one particular activity, due either
to the onset of boredom or to a lower time-e¢ ciency (for instance, take the time devoted to
having lunch with clients; the time spent to meet one client equals one hour for the meal plus
transportation time; the CEO �rst meets the clients who are willing to come to the �rm or
those who work nearby; then he has to spend more time traveling if he wants to meet the
ones in more distant locations).6
The CEO�s payo¤ is
u = bY + (1� b)R� C:
The parameter b captures the alignment between the �rm�s interests and the CEO�s �implicit
or explicit � incentive structure. If b = 1, the �rm and the CEO have perfectly aligned
interests. If b = 0, the CEO only pursues personal interest.
4.2 Perfect Governance
We begin by analyzing the benchmark case where the CEO�s and the �rm�s interests are
perfectly aligned The CEO solves
maxx
nXi=1
�ixi �1
2
nXi=1
x2i
and the solution is:
Proposition 1 In the perfect-alignment case (b = 1), the CEO devotes time to activities in
proportion to the relative value of the activities to the �rm. Namely, given activities i and j,
the equilibrium allocation of time on the two activities (xi and xj) satis�es:
xixj=�i�j:
6This formulation is equivalent to one where the production function is logarithmic
Y =
nXi=1
�i log xi
R =
nXi=1
�i log xi
and the cost function is linear
C =
nXi=1
xi:
11
The proposition makes clear that when the CEO�s interest is perfectly aligned with the
�rm�s, observing data on time allocation allows us to back out the relative importance of the
di¤erent activities in the eyes of the �rm.
4.3 Imperfect Governance
When b 2 (0; 1), the CEO pursues both the �rm�s interest and her own. The solution to theCEO�s maximization problem no longer implies that time is allocated according to the �rm�s
needs. Given two activities i and j, we have:
xixj=b�i + (1� b) �ib�j + (1� b) �j
:
Now, with no additional information, we are unable to back out the coe¢ cients � from
the allocations x for a particular CEO. However, we can derive a number of cross-sectional
implications that will guide our empirical work.
To put some structure on the problem, We make two assumptions. First, we assume that
activities can be grouped into two sets: IY and IR. The �rst set contains activities that
bene�t the �rm more than the CEOs (�i > �i when i 2 IY ), while the second set containsactivities that yield more personal bene�t (�i < �i when i 2 IR). Furthermore, activities inIY are better for the �rm: if i 2 IY and j 2 IR, then �i > �j (otherwise there are activitiesthat are dominated). In particular, our assumption is satis�ed when activities can be split
into two groups: tasks that only bene�t the �rm (�i > 0 and �i = 0) and tasks that only
bene�t the CEO (�i = 0 and �i > 0). As shorthand, we call activities in IY �bene�cial to
the �rm�and activities in IR �bene�cial to the CEO,�but recall that this de�nition should
be preceded by �comparatively more�.
Second, we assume that the bene�t to the �rm from Y activities is greater in monetary
terms than the bene�t to the CEO of R activities, namelyXk2IY
�k >Xk2IR
�k
This is a weak condition; its violation would imply that the CEO job exists mainly for the
bene�t of the job holder rather than for the �rm.
There is a distribution of �rms that are identical except for the quality of governance, so
that b is a random variable with support (0; 1). If we observe a distribution of realized time
allocations (a vector x for each �rm), we can state
Proposition 2 In equilibrium, the cross-sectional correlation between the time xi that theCEO devotes to a particular activity and the total time the CEO spends at work is positive
12
for activities that are bene�cial to the �rm and negative for activities that are bene�cial to
the CEO.
Corr
nXk=1
xk; xi
!> 0 () i 2 IY
Proof. Recall that the equilibrium allocation is given by xi = b�i+(1� b) �i. The covariance�whose sign is the same as the correlation �is
Cov
nXk=1
xk; xi
!= Cov
nXk=1
(b�k + (1� b) �k) ; b�i + (1� b) �i
!
= V ar (b)
�i
nXk=1
�k � �inXk=1
�k � �inXk=1
�k + �i
nXk=1
�k
!
= V ar (b) (�i � �i)
nXk=1
�k �nXk=1
�k
!
which is positive if and only if �i > �i.
The intuition behind proposition 2 has to with better discipline. Recall that �rms di¤er
in terms of governance quality b. Firms with a higher b induce the CEO to spend more
time on Y -tasks that bene�t the �rm (relatively more) and less on R-tasks that bene�t the
CEO. This determines an increase and a decrease in total work time. However, the second
assumption guarantees that the former e¤ect is strictly larger. That�s because there is more
potential bene�t to be gained through activities that are bene�cial to the �rm. If the �rm
owners are able to translate this into monetary incentives for the CEO, they can obtain a
higher level of e¤ort than the CEO is willing to put on activities that are directly bene�cial
to herself.
Second, suppose we have a, possibly noisy, measure of governance. Let
b = b+ ";
where b is the governance proxy and " is an i.i.d. noise term. Note that b could be a poor
proxy, in the sense that the variance of " can be very high.
Unsurprisingly, better governance is positively related to activities that are more bene�cial
to the �rm and negatively related to R activities:
Proposition 3 The governance measure b is positively correlated with time spent on anactivity if and only that activity is bene�cial to the �rm.
Cov�b; xi
�> 0 () i 2 IY ;
13
Proof. We have
Cov�b; xi
�= Cov (b+ "; b�i + (1� b) �i) = V ar (b) (�i � �i) ;
whose sign depends �once more �on whether i is a productive activity.
Finally, we can relate time allocation to �rm productivity Y .
Proposition 4 In equilibrium, the cross-sectional correlation between the time xi that theCEO devotes to an activity i and �rm�s productivity Y is positive if and only if activity i is
bene�cial to the �rm. Namely
Corr�Y ; xi
�> 0 () i 2 IY ;
Proof. Recall that
Y =nXk=1
�kxk =Xk2IY
�kxk
We have
Cov�Y ; xi
�= Cov
Xk
�k (b�k + (1� b) �k) ; b�i + (1� b) �i
!
= Cov
Xk
�b�2k + (1� b)�k�k
�; b�i + (1� b) �i
!
= V ar (b)
�i
nXk=1
�2k � �inXk=1
�2k � �iXk
�k�k + �iXk
�k�k
!
= V ar (b) (�i � �i)
nXk=1
�k (�k � �k)!
which � again � is positive if and only �i > �i, because there exists �� such that �i > ��
whenever i 2 IY and j 2 IR and hencePnk=1 �k (�k � �k) �
Pnk=1 �� (�k � �k) � 0.
The usefulness of the three previous results is that they allow us to identify the ralative
value of an activity to the �rm and the CEO. If we do not know a priori which activities are
more bene�cial to the �rm and which activities are more bene�cial to the CEOs, the three
propositions o¤er three distinct ways of using time allocation information to distinguish
between these. In the empirical application we use this framework to shed light on whether
time with insiders and outsiders can be divided along these lines.
5 Evidence on CEOs�Time Use
Guided by the theoretical framework we now explore the correlation between the time use
of the CEO and three sets of variables: (i) CEOs�e¤ort, (ii) �rm governance and (iii) �rm
14
performance. It is key to stress that our analysis only uncovers equilibrium correlations, that
is the nature of the data does not allow us to establish causal links. The analysis will however
shed light on the set of assumptions under which the evidence can be made consistent with
the two views of the world -perfect vs imperfect governance- formalized by the theoretical
framework. We will discuss these assumptions in detail in Section 6.
5.1 CEOs�Time Use and Hours Worked
The descriptive evidence in Figure 2 indicates that CEOs di¤er considerably both in the
amount of time they work and in how they allocate this across di¤erent categories of people.
Our �rst test aims at assessing whether e¤ort -measured by hours worked- and time use are
correlated. Namely do CEOs who work longer hours have a systematically di¤erent pattern
of time allocation between insiders and outsiders?
Throughout we focus on the distinction between time spent with at least one insider- with
or without outsiders- and time spent with outsiders alone. This follows from the reasonable
assumption that if the CEO devotes some of his time to activities that only carry private
bene�ts, he is more likely to do so when no other �rm employee is present.
Table 3 estimates the correlations between hours worked and time allocated to insiders
and outsiders alone. Throughout we control for �rm size, whether the �rm is listed and
industry dummies (coe¢ cients not reported), as the time CEOs must devote to outsiders
is likely to be determined by these. Panel A shows that there is a signi�cant correlation
between the total time the CEO spends at work and how he allocates this between di¤erent
categories of people. In particular, hours devoted to insiders increase one to one with hours
worked, whereas hours spent with outsiders alone are negatively correlated with total hours
worked. The table reports the p-value of the test of the null hypothesis that the coe¢ cient is
equal to one- namely that hours with insiders (outsiders) increase in direct proportion to the
hours worked. We �nd that the coe¢ cient in the regression of the logarithm of hours spent
with insiders on the logarithm of total hours is not statistically di¤erent from one, whereas
the coe¢ cient in the corresponding regression for hours spent with outsiders only is negative,
and signi�cantly di¤erent from one.
Panel B shows that the negative correlation between hours worked and hours spent with
outsiders alone is driven exclusively by the fact that CEOs who work longer hours devote
fewer hours to one-to-one meetings with outsiders alone. Columns 3 to 6 divide the time spent
with insiders and outsiders into time spent with one or more categories of each. For instance,
a meeting with investors would fall under the "one category of outsiders" heading, whereas
a meeting with investors and consultants would fall under the "more than one category of
outsiders" heading. Columns 3 and 4 show that the correlation between hours worked and
15
time spent with insiders does not depend on whether these belong to one or more categories.
In contrast, Columns 5 and 6 show that CEOs who work longer hours spend fewer hours in
meetings alone with one type of outsiders only. The correlation with hours spent with more
than one category of outsiders is positive but signi�cantly less than one.
Panel C divides the time spent with insiders and outsiders according to the number of
people participating in the activity. In line with the �ndings above, Columns 7 and 8 show
that the correlation between hours worked and time spent with insiders does not depend on
the number of insiders present. In contrast, Column 9 shows that CEOs who work longer
hours spend fewer hours in meetings with one or two outsiders and nobody else.
5.2 CEO�s Time Use and Governance
Findings so far indicate that CEOs who work longer hours devote more time to insiders and
less time- in absolute terms- to meeting outsiders alone, especially in one-to-one meetings. To
the extent that CEOs whose �rms have better governance work harder, this is consistent with
the interpretation that observed variation in time allocation re�ect di¤erences in governance.
We can test this relationship directly, by analyzing the correlation between time use and �ve
independent proxies of "governance quality". These proxies rely on the intuition that the
CEO�s ability to pursue activities that only produce private bene�ts, depends on the strength
and e¤ective functioning of the �rm board and its ability and willingness to monitor CEO�s
actions, as well as on the economic cost the CEO pays if the �rm underperforms.
In this framework, governance quality is both the re�ection of economic incentives and
the board�s ability to monitor the CEO. Since misalignment between the �rm and the CEO
objectives is not directly observable, we proxy quality of governance using �ve external �rm
level indicators. First we use an indicator of whether the �rm is a multinational. Intuitively,
because of the stronger competitive pressure that multinationals face, they need keep CEOs
focused on �rm productivity to preserve their competitive advantage. In line with this Bloom
and Van Reenen (2010) and Bandiera et. al (2010) show that multinational �rms are more
likely to be well managed and to o¤er steep performance incentives to their executives. Hence
we would expect that CEOs of multinational �rms incur a higher cost if they divert time
from productive to unproductive uses. Supporting this idea, we �nd that CEOs who work
for multinationals spend more time with insiders and less time with outsiders alone. In
particular, Columns 1 and 2 in Table 4 show that CEOs who work for foreign multinationals
spend 54% more time with insiders and 55% less with outsiders alone. Both coe¢ cients are
precisely estimated at conventional levels. Time allocation in Italian multinationals is similar
and we cannot reject the null that the coe¢ cients are equal.
The next set of indicators proxies for the power of �rm owners vis-à-vis the CEO. The
16
�rst indicator in this set measures whether the �rm is owned by a family, and if so, whether
the CEO is external to the family or one of its members. This distinction is key because
it raises di¤erent governance issues. Compared to disperse shareholders, family owners face
fewer di¢ culties in monitoring the CEOs they hire to run their �rms, for instance because
coordination among owners is much easier when owners are few. When the CEO belongs to
the family, there is no separation of ownership and control and hence no governance issues
as such; however, family CEOs in family �rms might pursue objectives other than pro�t
maximization (Bandiera et al 2010) and the implication of these for time allocation is not
captured by our simple framework. Columns 3 and 4 in Table 4 show that external CEOs who
work for family �rms spend 32% more time with insiders and 27% less time with outsiders
alone, but only the former is estimated precisely. This is in line with the intuition that,
compared to disperse shareholders, family owners can keep a tighter control on their CEOs.
Family CEOs, in contrast, do not appear to behave di¤erently than CEOs in non family
�rms.
The second indicator is the size of the board. Large boards have long been suspected
of being dysfunctional and to provide too little criticism of management performance, thus
granting CEOs more discretion which can be abused (e.g. Lipton and Lorsch, 1992). Jensen
(1993), subscribing to this criticism argues that "�when boards get beyond seven or eight
people they are less likely to function e¤ectively and are easier for the CEO to control". In
addition, pletoric boards can be just the re�ection of attempts to bring in friends and transfer
them shareholders money through board members compensation. Consistent with this views
there is some evidence that larger boards reduce the value of the �rm (e.g. Yermack, 1996).
In line with this, Columns 7 and 8 show that CEOs with larger boards spend less time with
insiders and more time with outsiders alone. A 1% percentage point increase in board size
reduces the time spent with insiders by 0.24 of a percentage point while it increases the time
spent with outsiders alone by 0.47 of a percentage point.
A better measure of constraints on the CEO is the independence of board members. We
have no direct information on the nature of the directors. But we observe some of their
characteristics, including gender. As a third proxy for quality of governance we use an
indicator for whether there is at least a woman in the board. There is evidence that the
presence of women improves the quality of governance. For instance, Adams and Ferreira
(2009) �nd that boards with more women tend to be tougher with the CEO, to raise board
attendance and to monitor more.7 Throughout the analysis, we distinguish between executive
7One rational is that women have higher standards of morality and a higher sense of their duty as docu-
mented in experimental and survey based studies which show that women are more likely to stick to the rules,
less likely to break agreed legal or moral norms (e.g. Guiso et. al (2003) ) and are less self-oriented then men
(for instance Eagly and Crowley (1986); Eckel and Grossman (1998); Reiss and Mitra (1998); Butler et. al.
17
and non executive roles, since we expect this e¤ect to be stronger when women assume
executive roles. The �ndings in columns 9 and 10 indicate that CEOs spend 17% more time
with insiders and 27% less with outsiders alone, respectively when at least one woman on the
board has an executive role. As expected, the correlations have a similar sign but are smaller
in magnitude and not precisely estimated when we look at the presence of women with non
executive roles.
As a �nal and more direct measure of governance quality and restraints on the man-
agers we use the country-level indicator of private bene�ts of control computed by Dyck and
Zingales (2004) on the basis of block control transactions in 39 countries. We attach this
measure of quality of governance to multinational �rms in our sample on the basis of their
country of origin and rely on within variation among multinational �rms operating in Italy.
Compared to the others, the main advantages of this measure are its direct interpretability in
terms of access to private bene�ts and its exogeneity. It comes at the cost that we can only
rely on a subset of observations. The �ndings in columns 11 and 12, table 4, indicate that
CEOs who work for multinationals based in countries with better governance spend more
time with insiders and less with outsiders alone. A one standard deviation increase in the
index, indicating a worsening of governance, decreases hours spent with insiders by 13% and
increases hours spent with outsiders alone by 45%.
Taken together, the �ndings in Table 4 provide a coherent picture. Whenever the CEO
and the �rm interest are better aligned - either because of stronger market competition,
better monitoring, more powerful boards- CEOs spend more time with insiders and less time
with outsiders alone. This, as well as the �ndings in the previous section, suggests that
the evidence is consistent with the idea that time with outsiders alone yields more private
bene�ts than time with insiders, and that di¤erences in time allocation re�ect di¤erences
in governance. The next section looks at whether di¤erences in time allocation have any
implication for �rm performance.
5.3 CEOs�Time Use and Firm Performance
For our next test we match the time use data with external measures of �rm performance
from the Amadeus database. Following the theory, we test whether the time the CEO spends
with di¤erent categories of people is correlated with �rm performance. As illustrated by the
model in Section 3, all hours devoted to productive activities should be positively correlated
with �rm performance, namely the CEOs�time is an input in the production function. If,
on the other hand, the CEO spends time on activities that bene�t him but not the �rm, the
(2010)). Because of this they are more willing to voice in the board meetings against a shirking CEO, thus
providing more monitoring and control.
18
time devoted to these activities should not be correlated to �rm performance.
Table 5 estimates the conditional correlation between �rm performance and CEOs�time
use controlling for �rm size and industry dummies. Our main measure of performance is
productivity, measured as the value of sales over employees, which is available for 80 of
our 94 sample �rms. Firms in the �nance sector are excluded from this exercise because
sales/employees is not a comparable measure of productivity in this sector.
Column 1 shows a strong positive correlation between hours worked and productivity.
The coe¢ cient is precisely estimated and implies that a one percentage point increase in
CEOs�working hours is associated with a 2.14 percentage point increase in productivity.
Column 2 shows that this correlation is entirely driven by the hours the CEOs spend with
at least one other employee of the �rm. A one percentage point increase in hours spent with
at least one insider is associated with a 1.23 percentage points increase in productivity. In
contrast, hours spent working alone and, most interestingly, hours spent with outsiders alone
are not correlated with productivity. The coe¢ cient is precisely estimated but small and not
signi�cantly di¤erent from zero. The test of equality of coe¢ cients between hours with at
least one insiders and hours with outsiders alone rejects the null at the 1% level.
Columns 3 to 5 address measurement error issues. In particular, given that the CEO
generally meets insiders at the �rm�s HQ, while he might meet outsiders in other locations,
the results could be driven by measurement error if the time spent with outsiders comprises
unproductive travel or setting-up time. Alternatively, the PA might have more precise in-
formation on the hours dedicated to a given activity if this takes place in the CEO�s o¢ ce,
which is presumably close to hers, rather than on activities that take place away from the
�rm. To allay this concern, Column 3 splits the hours spent with outsiders alone according
to location. If this were driving the results, we would expect the time spent with outsiders at
HQ to be positively correlated with �rm productivity. The results indicate that however this
is not the case. The coe¢ cient on hours spent with outsiders is small, precisely estimated
and not signi�cantly di¤erent from zero regardless of where the activity takes place.
A related concern is that the PA might have more precise information about the duration
of activities with insiders and hence measurement error would again introduce a downward
bias on the coe¢ cient on time with outsiders alone. We address this concern using infor-
mation on whether the activity was scheduled in advance and recorded in the CEO�s diary.
Intuitively, activities that are planned in advance and already recorded should be measured
more precisely. Columns 4 and 5 show that this form of measurement error was not driving
the results either. The coe¢ cient of hours spent with outsiders is small, precisely estimated
and not signi�cantly di¤erent from zero regardless of whether the activity was planned in
advance. In contrast, the coe¢ cient on hours spent with at least one insider is positive and
19
signi�cantly di¤erent from zero regardless of whether the activity was planned in advance.
Column 5 probes the robustness of the results to the inclusion of other inputs, namely capital
and materials.
While the pattern of time use is correlated with productivity, it might also be correlated
with other unobservables - most notably the CEOs pay - so to leave the �rm owners indif-
ferent between having a hard working CEO who spends long hours with insiders and a CEO
who works fewer hours and spends more time with outsiders alone. To assess the empirical
relevance of this interpretation, Column 6 presents the conditional correlation between �rms
pro�ts per employee and time use. The results show that time spent with at least one insider
is positively correlated with pro�ts, whereas time spent with outsiders is not.
A possible further concern is that the impact of time allocation choices might reveal
itself over a longer time period. For example, networking activities might need a longer
time frame to bear their positive impact on �rm performance. To test this idea we consider
as a dependent variable the growth rate of sales over a three year period. The results in
column 7 do not support the idea that time spent with outsiders might have a positive long
run impact. In fact, although the coe¢ cients are not precisely estimated, time spent with
outsiders is negatively correlated with three-year sales growth, while time spent with insiders
shows a positive correlation.
6 Discussion and Conclusions
The analysis above has illustrated a rich set of correlations between the CEOs�pattern of time
use, his e¤ort, governance proxies and the performance of the �rm he leads. In particular we
�nd that CEOs who work longer hours spend more time in activities that involve at least one
insider and less time in activities where the CEO meets outsiders alone. CEOs who work for
�rms with stronger governance also spend more time in activities that involve at least one
insider and less time in activities where the CEO meets outsiders alone Finally, time spent
with insiders is positively correlated with productivity and pro�ts, whereas time spent with
outsiders alone is not.
As illustrated in the theoretical framework, variations in time use can either be seen as
optimal responses to di¤erent circumstances faced by di¤erent �rms if the CEO�s ad the
�rm�s interests are perfectly aligned (b = 1) or as consequences of di¤erences in the quality of
governance. We now make precise the conditions under which the �ndings can be reconciled
with either the perfect and the imperfect governance view. It is important to stress that our
data does not allow us to implement a formal test of the two models, but the rich set of
correlations we uncover allows us to pin down the set of assumptions needed to reconcile the
20
�ndings with either view.
In the perfect governance view, where the CEO�s and the �rm�s interests are perfectly
aligned, the observed correlations must be due to shocks that a¤ect the pattern of time use,
total hours worked, �rm performance and �rm characteristics as follows. First, shocks that
increase the marginal return to CEO�s e¤ort - so that CEOs work longer hours, also increase
the marginal product of time with at least one insider and at the same time decrease the
marginal product of time alone with outsiders, especially so for time alone in one-to-one
meetings. Second, shocks that increase the �rm�s productivity, also increase the marginal
product of time with at least one insider and leave the marginal product of time alone with
outsiders constant. Third, this type of shocks are more likely to hit multinationals, family
�rms with external CEOs, �rms with small boards, �rms with women covering executive roles
on the board, and �rms from countries with a good governance record.
In the imperfect governance view, the observed variation in time use can derive from
di¤erences in governance that determine the extent to which the CEOs�interests are aligned
with the �rm. If we take this view, the �ndings indicate that time spent with insiders
contributes to the �rm�s output while time spent alone with outsiders only bene�ts the
CEO. Moreover, CEOs hired by �rms with better governance work longer hours and devote
more time to activities that bene�t the �rm and less time to activities that mostly carry
private bene�ts.
We leave it to the reader to assess which of the two interpretations is more plausible. In
either case, our analysis suggests that CEO time use data are a useful tool to shed light on
constraints and objectives of �rms and of their executives.
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23
FIGURE 1: CEO's Time Use1.A Share of time devoted to different activities
1B Sh f ti t ith diff t t i f l
mean of sharetime_lunch
mean of sharetime_publicevent
mean of sharetime_phonecalls
mean of sharetime_workalone
mean of sharetime_meetings
0 .2 .4 .6
meetings
works alone
phone calls
public events
business lunches
1B. Share of time spent with different categories of people
mean of sharetime_lunch
mean of sharetime_publicevent
mean of sharetime_phonecalls
mean of sharetime_workalone
mean of sharetime_meetings
0 .2 .4 .6
meetings
works alone
phone calls
public events
business lunches
insiders and outsiders
insiders and outsidersmean of so
mean of sharetime_mix
mean of si
0 .1 .2 .3 .4
outsiders alone
insiders only
insiders and outsiders
FIGURE 2: CEO's Time Use
2A. Hours Worked
2B. Hours spent with outsiders alone
1.2
.3.4
Fra
ctio
n0
.05
.1.1
5.2
.25
Fra
ctio
n
20 30 40 50 60weekly hrs all activitiestotal weekly hours
2C. Hours spent with at least one insider
0.1
.2.3
.4F
ract
ion
0 5 10 15 20weekly hrs spent in this activity
0.0
5.1
.15
.2.2
5F
ract
ion
0 10 20 30 40 50weekly hrs spent in this activity
0.0
5.1
.15
.2.2
5F
ract
ion
20 30 40 50 60weekly hrs all activitiestotal weekly hours
weekly hours with outsiders alone
weekly hours with at least one insider
Note: Weekly hours are computed as the sum of time spent in all activities longer thanfifteen minutes. Weekly hours with outsiders alone is the sum of time spent in all activitieswhere the CEO was alone with outsiders for longer than fifteen minutes. Weekly hourswith outsiders alone is the sum of time spent in all activities where the CEO was with at
Table 1 Sample Descriptives
Mean Median Std. Dev. ObsSize (Number of Employees) 8330 1244 30014 94Productivity (Sales/Employees X1000 USD) 4234 600 13664 80Sector: (%) 98
Manufacturing 39.4Services 13.8
Finance, Insurance, Real Estate 14.9Transportation and Communication 12.8
Wholesale and Retail 8.5Mining 3.2
Construction 4.2Ownership (%) 94
Widely Held 37.2Family 22.3State 18.1Other 13.3
Nationality (%) 98Domestic 29.9
Italian MNE 36.1 .Foreign MNE 34
Firm is listed 0.19 94Board size 13.1 10 8.1 91At least one woman on the board in an executive role 0.56 91At least one woman on the board in a non executive role 0.68 91Private benefit index 0.023 0.038 0.049 30
.
Data Sources and Variable Definitions: Data on firm size, productivity and sector are drawn from AMADEUS. Productivity isnot available for firms in the financial sector. Ownership and multinational status has been obtained through manualsearch. Board data is drawn from the Infocamere dataset. Accounting, ownership and board information are relative to2007. The private benefit index is measured (only for non Italian multinationals) at the country of origin level and it is drawnfrom Dyck and Zingales (2004), Table V, col 2.
TABLE 2: CEOs' Time Use
AverageShare of CEOs with
hrs>0
Total Hours 47.7
(9.98)
Total Hours Recorded 36.94
(8.33)Working alone 5.66 .91
(4.65)With at least one insider 24.2 1
(9.35)With outsiders only 4.88 .84
(4.83)
Insiders, Top 5 Categories:
Finance 8.69 .79(6.96)
Marketing 8.32 .73(7.62)
BU Directors 6.85 .71(7.18)( )
Strategy 5.87 .69(5.97)
Human Resources 5.47 .74(5.86)
Outsiders, Top 5 Categories
Clients 2.59 .40(4.03)
Suppliers 1.27 .34(2.19)
Investors 1.74 .33(3.05)
Consultants 4.70 .67(4.82)
Banks 1.38 .30(2.68)
Data Sources and Variable Definitions: All variables are drawn from the time use survey. Totalhours include all activities, including those shorter than 15 minutes and travel. Total hoursrecorded only contains activities that are longer than 15 minutes and does not include travel. Thefirst column reports average hours spent by the sample CEOs over the relevation week with eachof the listed categories in activities longer than 15 minutes. The second column reports the shareof CEOs that spend at least 15 minutes with each of the listed categories.
TABLE 3. CEOs' Time Use and Hours WorkedPanel A Insiders and Outsiders
1 2
log(total hours) spent: with at least one insider with outsiders only
log (total hours) 1.179*** 0.693**(0.147) (0.337)
H0: log(total hours)=1 .23 .00
Adjusted R squared 0.473 0.207Controls size, listed size, listedIndustry Dummies yes yesObservations 94 94
Panel B Insiders and Outsiders, by number of categories involved
3 4 5 6
log(total hours) spent:with one category of
insiderswith more than onecategory of insiders
with one category ofousiders
with more than onecategory of outsiders
log (total hours) 0.909*** 1.082** 0.926*** 0.381*(0.260) (0.448) (0.317) (0.223)
log (number of employees) 0.024 0.028 0.053 0.029(0.038) (0.054) (0.046) (0.027)
listed firm (=1 if yes) 0.164 0.631** 0.906*** 0.146(0.255) (0.287) (0.214) (0.202)
H0: log(total hours)=1 .73 .85 .00 .00
d d dAdjusted R squared 0.138 0.253 0.205 0.166Controls size, listed size, listed size, listed size, listedIndustry Dummies yes yes yes yesObservations 94 94 94 94
Panel C Insiders and Outsiders, by number of participants involved
7 8 9 10
log(total hours) spent:with fewer than two
participants and at leastone insider
with more than twoparticipants and atleast one insider
with outsiders only andfewer than twoparticipants
with outsiders onlyand more than two
participants
log (total hours) 0.594* 1.387*** 0.789*** 0.075(0.303) (0.224) (0.276) (0.365)
log (number of employees) 0.010 0.027 0.040 0.013(0.040) (0.032) (0.037) (0.039)
listed firm (=1 if yes) 0.082 0.182 0.566** 0.640**(0.201) (0.130) (0.251) (0.248)
H0: log(total hours)=1 .18 .08 .00 .00
Adjusted R squared 0.136 0.422 0.168 0.142Controls size, listed size, listed size, listed size, listedIndustry Dummies yes yes yes yesObservations 94 94 94 94
Notes: *,**,*** indicate that the coefficient is significantly different from zero at the 10%, 5%, 1% level, respectively. OLS Estimates, robuststandard errors in parentheses. All regressions include industry dummies, the logarithm of the number of employees and a dummy equal to 1if the firm is listed.
TABLE 4. CEOs' Time Use and Governance
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
dependent variable is log(total hours) spent with:with atleast oneinsider
outsidersonly
at leastone insider
outsidersonly
at leastone insider
outsidersonly
at leastone insider
outsidersonly
at leastone insider
outsidersonly
at leastone insider
outsidersonly
Foreign MNE 0.428*** 0.594** 0.438*** 0.612**(0.123) (0.257) (0.125) (0.260)
Domestic MNE 0.288** 0.233 0.217* 0.122(0.122) (0.227) (0.124) (0.233)
Family owned External CEO 0.277** 0.337 0.313** 0.486(0.125) (0.293) (0.135) (0.301)
Family owned Family CEO 0.115 0.135 0.072 0.046(0.106) (0.272) (0.118) (0.288)
Log (board size) 0.243* 0.474**(0.135) (0.230)
At least one woman on the board in an executive role 0.165* 0.328*(0.096) (0.190)
At least one woman on the board in a non executive role 0.032 0.250(0.108) (0.241)
Private benefit index 2.605* 9.095*(1.152) (4.266)
Industry Dummies yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yesFirm Size yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yesFirm Listed yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yesAdjusted R squared 0.199 0.230 0.115 0.190 0.243 0.253 0.128 0.218 0.103 0.206 0.291 0.299Observations 94 94 94 94 94 94 88 88 88 88 30 30
Notes: *,**,*** indicate that the coefficient is significantly different from zero at the 10%, 5%, 1% level, respectively. OLS Estimates, robust standard errors in parentheses. All regressions include industry dummies, the logarithmemployees and a dummy equal to 1 if the firm is listed. Sample size in columns 7 10 falls due to missing values of the board variables. The private benefit index is the country level indicator of private benefits of control comput(2004) on the basis of block control transactions in 39 countries., which we match to the country of origin of the foreign multinationals in our sample. Consequently, the sample in columns 11 14 is restricted to foreign multinatio
Table 5: CEOs' Time Use and Firm Performance
(1) (2) (2) (3) (4) (5) (7) (8)
dependent variable: Log(productivity) Log(productivity) Log(productivity) Log(productivity) Log(productivity) Log(productivity) Profits/Employees Sales growth rate
Log total hours 2.145***(0.611)
Log total hours with at least one insider 1.229*** 1.274*** 1.223*** 0.740** 72.340* 0.071(0.431) (0.413) (0.418) (0.319) (41.758) (0.077)
Log total hours with outsiders only 0.227 0.072 31.758 0.016(0.249) (0.189) (21.187) (0.061)
Log total hours working alone 0.258 0.278 0.284* 0.237 0.166 3.619 0.005(0.162) (0.168) (0.161) (0.157) (0.152) (13.439) (0.046)
Log total hours with outsiders at headquarters 0.326(0.294)
Log total hours with outsiders outside 0.114(0.152)
Log total hours with outsiders planned in advance 0.210 0.205(0.215) (0.204)
Log total hours with outsiders unplanned 0.196 0.219(0.342) (0.347)
Log total hours with insiders planned in advance 0.857***(0 323)(0.323)
Log total hours with insiders unplanned 0.340*(0.186)
H0: hours with insiders=hours with outsiders .000 .006 .184 .244H0: hours with outsiders at HQ=hours with outsiders outside .421H0: hours with insiders planned=hours with insiders unplanned .131H0: hours with outsiders planned=hours with outsiders unplanned 0.288 .247Industry Dummies yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes
Controls size , listed size , listed size , listed size , listed size , listedsize , listed, log
(capital),log(materials)
size , listed size , listed
Adjusted R squared 0.480 0.476 0.491 0.483 0.478 0.526 0.476 0.111Observations 80 80 80 80 80 78 76 66
Notes: *,**,*** indicate that the coefficient is significantly different from zero at the 10%, 5%, 1% level, respectively. OLS Estimates, robust standard errors in parentheses.All regressions include industry dummies, the logarithm of the number of employees and adummy equal to 1 if the firm is listed. Productivity is defined as sales/employees. Sales growth rate is computed as the logharitmic change over a three year period.
Figure A1: CEO Fixed Effects with 95% Confidence Interval
-20
24
(mean) DFE_I-6
-4-2
02
4(mean) DFE_I
cid
Note: Each dot represents the coefficient on each CEO dummy in a regression of log(timewith at least one insider) on firm size, industry dummies and CEO dummies at the activitylevel. The bars are the 95% confidence intervals.
TABLE A1. Selection into the sample.
1 2 3 4 5dependent variable:
log (number of employees) 0.020** 0.026** 0.026** 0.022** 0.030**(0.009) (0.010) (0.011) (0.011) (0.012)
Part of "Amici Fondazione De Benedetti" list (=1 if yes 0.373*** 0.251** 0.250** 0.271** 0.443***(0.101) (0.108) (0.109) (0.110) (0.132)
MNE firm (1=yes) 0.038 0.038 0.047 0.055(0.038) (0.038) (0.038) (0.040)
listed firm (=1 if yes) 0.082 0.082 0.107 0.039(0.075) (0.076) (0.079) (0.083)
Geographical Area: Islands 0.003 0.012 0.004 0.161(0.112) (0.124) (0.115) (0.167)
Geographical Area: North East 0.010 0.010 0.009 0.041(0.044) (0.045) (0.045) (0.047)
Geographical Area: North West 0.057 0.057 0.060 0.053(0.041) (0.041) (0.041) (0.043)
Geographical Area: South 0.024 0.032 0.023 0.007(0.063) (0.065) (0.062) (0.076)
Finance, Insurance 0.187*** 0.190*** 0.199*** 0.171**(0.062) (0.063) (0.065) (0.073)
Manufacturing 0.029 0.030 0.030 0.012(0.036) (0.037) (0.036) (0.039)
Mining 0.729*** 0.725*** 0.740*** 0.349***(0.193) (0.192) (0.209) (0.134)
Public Administration 0.637*** 0.639*** 0.602*** 0.482***(0.116) (0.118) (0.119) (0.146)
Retail Trade 0.002 0.002 0.001 0.008(0.077) (0.076) (0.078) (0.073)
Services 0.289*** 0.290*** 0.284*** 0.337***(0.092) (0.095) (0.093) (0.110)
Transportation 0.005 0.005 0.018 0.019(0.045) (0.045) (0.046) (0.049)
log(sales) 0.050(11.431)
Profits/Employees (millions) 0.041(0.070)
Sales Growth Rate (3 years) 0.076(0.054)
Constant 0.030 0.111 0.114 0.091 0.127(0.054) (0.073) (0.160) (0.081) (0.085)
Adjusted R squared 0.0614 0.1432 0.1429 0.1476 0.1847Observations 535 523 521 515 422
Dummy=1 if firm is in sample
Notes: *, **, *** indicated that the coefficient is significantly different from zero at the 10%, 5% and 1% level, respectively. OLS Estimates,robust standard errors in parentheses. The omitted category for geographical area is "Centre". The omitted category for sector is "construction".